Police try to prevent outsiders from entering SRFTI campus on Sunday
Kolkata: Around 30 students and two faculty members of Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute (SRFTI) were injured on Sunday afternoon in a clash between students and members of Akhil Bharatiya Grahak Panchayat (ABGP), an RSS-affiliated consumer awareness body that had booked an auditorium on the campus for an event. You Can Also Check: Gold Rate in Kolkata | Silver Rate in Kolkata | Bank Holidays in Kolkata | Public Holidays in Kolkata | Kolkata AQI | Weather in Kolkata | Petrol Price in Kolkata | Diesel Price in Kolkata | CNG Price in Kolkata | LPG Price in Kolkata Stay updated with the latest Kolkata news.
Joint commissioner of police (traffic) Surya Pratap Yadav said strict action would be taken once complaints were lodged, while deputy commissioner of police (east) Arindam Sarkar said they would act against perpetrators from both sides. SRFTI registrar Deepak Kumar told TOI , “I am in the middle of everything and will talk later. Sinha, who described ABGP as an apolitical body affiliated to RSS , said students entered the venue after the event started and pasted posters. They came prepared for a confrontation and began assaulting us, forcing me to call police,” he said. Bengal BJP spokesperson Debjit Sarkar said, “A hall (at SRFTI) was booked by nationalist organisations for a programme.
Police cordoned off the trouble spot with guardrails and senior officers were deployed there till reports last came in. Two students were questioned late at night. Both sides accused police of inaction. When ABGP members tried removing them and ushering the students out, they faced a crowd outside. “Young girls were at the front. A group of urban and dimagi Naxals stormed the venue, shouted ‘Go back RSS’, tore posters and… kicked posters bearing images of Bharat Mata and Swami Vivekananda. Download the TOI App.
Three FIRs were lodged late on Sunday, two by ABGP and one by SRFTI students.
Rejecting the assault charges, ABGP’s Anjan Sinha said: “If attacking students was our motive, why would we hire an auditorium for our members? He alleged that around 100 students had gathered outside the auditorium and shouted “RSS murdabad” and “Pakistan zindabad”. Were elderly men and women (who came to attend the programme) carrying knives in their pockets?
More than 10 faculty members came to the campus to stand by the students.
Blossom Hazarika, president of SRFTI Students Union, said they were kept in the dark about the decision to rent out the institute’s main auditorium to ABGP for an event. The situation escalated when ABGP members confronted us,” he said. They punched and kicked us, including woman students, and also assaulted us with sticks,” said Manas Ruidas, a student of direction. Former student Prabuddha Mukhopadhyay, who rushed to the campus on hearing news of the clash, said a mob briefly gheraoed an ambulance taking five injured students to Desun Hospital. A teacher was thrashed,” he said As stones and bottles were being thrown from outside, alumna Suchana Saha expressed fears over their safety at night.
Twenty-five students were taken to Desun Hospital, where two were admitted and the rest discharged after first aid. A team from Peerless Hospital provided first aid to another five students on the campus. “We fail to understand why the SRFTI authorities leased out the space — that, too, on a Sunday — for a non-film event. We put up posters questioning the administration’s decision. An altercation broke out after the programme started, when students approached the venue holding posters. They alleged they were chased, beaten up and pelted with bricks. “We were called anti-national, dimagi Naxal, jihadi, Pakistani and Bangladeshi. They made obscene gestures at female students and threatened them with rape. Duttatreya Dey, an editing student, suffered nose injuries, facial wounds from flying stones and a forehead laceration. Another student fainted after being hit by a stone. “Students who were not involved (in the clash) were targeted. Some of them hid in the library; a group followed them there, assaulting a guard. “Two of our faculty members were assaulted. Since cops are yet to disperse the outsiders who have gathered in front of the gate, we are all trapped inside.
The new VC is expected to land in Kolkata late on Sunday,” said a faculty member.